Doin Lines Week 10

Woot woot! 4-1 last week! My best showing of the year as far as I can recall. Too bad I ran out of money on the tables in Vegas to throw bets down on Sunday. Oh well, life goes on. It’s amazing how different this year has been in that, I don’t really care about my fantasy teams or my bets nearly as much as years past. I guess that just goes to show you that when my team (Raiders) are doing well, nothing else matters to me in the football world. I kind of forgot what that felt like, and let me tell you, it’s a sweet feeling I was missing in life! I still like winning money, so I’m going to try to follow up a great week of picks with another one for back to back winners the first time this season!

Congrats to Chappy’s 4-1 last week! As for me, 1-3-1 doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. What sucks the most was that I was extremely confident I would finally top .500 this season with last week’s picks. I guess the only good that came out of it was that my suggestion on taking the Jets to win in Detroit actually helped Chris out. Anyway, it’s back to the drawing board for me. Perhaps I need a trip to Vegas …

Week 9 (Chap 4-1, By 1-3-1) Overall (Chap 22-26-3, By 19-22-4)

Baltimore @ Atlanta (-1)

Chappy picks Baltimore (+1). It’s rare the NFL Network gets a game that’s worthy of watching. Fortunately for them they drew a great one this Thursday when two first place teams meet. Will the Ravens spit on the dirty bird? I think they might, and it’s going to take a lot of loogies to pull out a victory on the road. Neither team has injuries, so this should be a great game with all the starters out there. This is a battle for the future as Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco try to prove who is the better QB of that 2008 draft class. Atlanta is 4-0 at home, but three of those contest came down to the last minute. I don’t see this one being any different except that they will finally be on the losing side of things.

By picks Atlanta (-1): What a dream match up between two title contenders. This could very well be the prequel to the Super Bowl this season. I like Joe Flacco about as much as the next guy, but I’m a big believer of Matt Ryan and his upside. This game is pretty much a straight bet, and so the deciding factor for me comes down to which team has more weapons. With Michael Turner quietly having himself a great year, and with Roddy White not so quietly emerging as the league’s best receiver, I give the edge to the Falcons. Besides, I can’t ride them all year long to jump ship now.

Cincinnati @ Indianapolis (-7)

By picks Indianapolis (-7): I got it half right last week, I knew the Colts would fall in Philly, but I thought Philly would cover the spread. Damn those odd makers, they’re really good. Anyway, give Cincy credit last Monday, as they fought back valiantly to make it interesting against the Steelers. But with Cincy on a short week, and with Peyton fuming from the loss, I predict the Colts make mince meat out of the Bengals in week ten. Colts by 17.

Houston @ Jacksonville (-1.5)

Chappy picks Houston (+1.5). This is a tough call, but I’ll go with the team I think is going to the playoffs every year, but then sucks it up just enough to miss them. Both of these 4-4 teams like to talk about how they can take out the Colts and Titans within the division, but neither ever do it. Jacksonville looks much better than their first few games while the Texans look worse than they did at the beginning of the year. Why pick Houston? Easy, if you aren’t sure who to take, you take the points and the team that has more of your fantasy players on it! Another reason for my pick is I’m very familiar with Kirk Morrison the Jags middle linebacker. He’s not that good at stopping the run, so I see Foster controlling the clock and the game.

By picks Houston (+1.5): Uh oh, another one of those games in which Chaps and I pick the same team. When will we ever learn with Houston? They started off the season defeating their nemesis the Colts, and then came back on the Skins the following week to jump to a 2-0 start, only to fall back into ﻿mediocrity. Last week was just a representation of Houston’s past three seasons. All smoke and mirrors. They look good to start, but then fizzle at the end. With that said, Houston will beat Jacksonville and cover. Sorry, I couldn’t think of a clever segway into that, I just think Jacksonville’s not that good.

New York Jets (-3) @ Cleveland

By picks the New York Jets: Shall we try this again? Sure, why not. I figured there was no chance Detroit would be able to cover the spread against the Jets last week, let alone win the game. And yet, they did, and they nearly did. The Jets have to feel like they escaped with one last week, and if that doesn’t regain their collective focus, watching footage of the Browns’ dismantling of the Pats will! I honestly think the Browns got lucky last week, and unfortunately for them, their luck ends versus New York. Mark Sanchez is looking more and more like the 2010 version of Trent Dilfer or Brad Johnson. If that.

Carolina @ Tampa Bay (-6.5)

Chappy picks Tampa Bay (-6.5). I think By saw it before I did, but this Carolina team is probably the worst in the league. The first time these two teams met in week 2 Tampa gave them a beat down. Now they’re at home, and this one is probably my most confident pick on the slate this weekend. The Panthers are trying to be the lowest scoring team in the history of the NFL with 12.1ppg. The Bucs usually give up a lot of points, but I think anyone that gets to play Carolina sees their defensive stats get better. I think the Bucs fire up their Blount, and leave the Cats with some second hand smoke.

Kansas City (-1) @ Denver

Chappy picks Kansas City (-1). Wow, if you told me at the beginning of the year that KC would be favored on the road in Denver I would’ve laughed at you. KC didn’t quite get the job done in Oakland, but they are much better than this Broncos team. The last time these two teams met last year was Jamaal Charles breakout party. (I only remember because he was on my fantasy team). Charles torched them for 200+ yards, and I think between him and Jones they should be able to go over that 200+ mark again. I think McDaniels has already lost this team. They remind me of Raiders teams from years past, and give up as soon as they face some adversity. If they lose this game, the chances are improving that McDaniels might not even be around long enough to see if the Tebow pick was worth it!

New England @ Pittsburgh (-5)

By picks New England: The Cleveland game is exactly what the Patriots needed. A Bill Belichick team is disciplined, and focused, with a chip on their shoulder. The Patriots unloaded on Moss, and were sitting atop the AFC East, pretty much relaxed at that point. They felt unbeatable. They weren’t a team hungry to prove anything anymore, well, they were still fed last week. A knuckle sandwich to be exact. I just don’t see a Bill Belichick/Tom Brady team losing two games in a row this season. I know Pittsburgh’s ahead of them on my own personal power rankings list, but they’re not immune to being upsetted. Albeit a small one. Plus, Brady and the Pats have pwned Big Ben and the Steelers over the past few years. No difference here.

Philadelphia (-3) @ Washington

Chappy picks Philly (-3).Washington is coming off their bye week. I usually take a bye week team that’s a dog at home that’s, but with all the swirling controversy between Shannahan and McNabb its really tough to. Is it just me or is Al Davis starting to look sane with some of his coach firings over years past. Shannahan looks crazy in Washington, Kiffin was crazy in Tennessee and USC. Just sayin… Philly on the other hand looks as explosive as ever. I won’t list their weapons because you already know them. The Michael Vick experience is coming to MNF, and you should grab a seat, because it’s ten time more fun to watch than the Kevin Kolb experience. I see Philly putting up points, but don’t see Washington putting up nearly as many.